March 31, 2015

 

The program and on-line registration for the 2015 Annual Conference being held in Jasper, Alberta from June 1-3, 2015 at The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge  can be found on the CAMA website:  http://www.camacam.ca/en/conference/2015Conference.asp
 

The Early Bird Rate will be available until the end of the day on Wednesday, April 1st, 2015!  Don't delay!

Regular registration for the Conference will remain open until Friday, May 15th, 2015.

 
CAMA Holds Quarterly Board Meeting in Mississauga, Ontario
 

The Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) held their quarterly meeting in Mississauga, Ontario on March 19th, 2015.  A special thanks to Janice Baker, City Manager and CAO for the City of Mississauga, and her staff, for their warm hospitality.

The Board dealt with a number of issues, but what follows are the highlights of those discussions:
 

Strategic Plan
The first topic was regarding the Association’s Strategic Plan.  The Board approved a Strategic Planning Policy which will provide direction for both the long and short-term decision-making by the Board of Directors and staff to fulfill the mission of the organization and make choices on behalf of the membership.  CAMA’s Strategic Plan will consist of a “ground-up” exercise every five years with an annual review of the goals, action plans, and performance measures which will be modified to meet the Association’s needs and any changing conditions.  The Board will be undertaking a full review in 2016 with more details being announced at the 2015 Annual Conference.
 

Nominating Committee
Jean Savard, Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee submitted his report for consideration of the Board.  There are two positions on the Board available for the 2015-2016 fiscal year:  the first is for a representative for Newfoundland & Labrador (due to the retirement of Keith Arns) and the second is a representative for Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island (currently filled by President Robert Hughes).  Mr. Savard will be advising all CAMA members in early April of more information about Board elections.

The Board also approved a recommendation from Mr. Savard that Janice Baker, CAMA Board Repesentative for Ontario, assume the position of Treasurer of the organization given the recent retirement of the former Treasurer, Mr. Keith Arns.

Honourary Life Member Awards
The Board reviewed a number of nominations for this prestigious award and will be announcing its choice during the President’s Dinner in Jasper.

Update on Communications/Marketing Plan.
Communications Chair, Glen Davies updated the Board on his Committee’s recent activities of the Communications/Marketing Plan.  Work on the Association’s membership tactical plan continues and he fully expects to be able to provide the membership with finer details at the Jasper Conference.  You will soon be seeing some of your fellow colleagues from across the country in video testimonials encouraging non-members to join CAMA.

Update on CAMA and Provincial/Territorial Association Communications Partnership
CAMA has been working closely with six of our Provincial/Territorial Associations (LGMA, AMCTO, OMAA, LGAA, ARMAA, and AMANB) on a two year communications project.  Chair Davies briefed the Board on the work of the Steering Committee and Working Group.  These groups are brainstorming ideas for a strategy that would allow us to have success in “Recruiting the Next Generation of Leaders”.  We all agree that we need people to consider a career as a leader in local Government Administration but it will not happen without a proactive strategy.  More information will be provided as it is developed.

Website and Social Media
The Board also reviewed the quarterly statistics for the website, member section statistics and CAMA’s social media program.  We are very pleased that we will once again offer the mobile app to delegates so they can keep track of all the activities, speakers and sessions at the Jasper Conference.  Watch for this app to be launched in mid-April 2015.

Annual Conferences
The Board reviewed the preparations for the 2015 Jasper Conference.  Early indications are that it will be a very good Conference with the potential to have record attendance.   If you have not already registered please visit the CAMA website at: http://www.camacam.ca/en/conference/2015Conference.asp
It is very important to note that the entire Conference will be “Business Casual” including the President’s Dinner due to the beautiful setting at this facility!  So leave your suits and dress attire at home and bring your jeans!

Future Conferences

CAO Performance Management and Evaluation Committee
Janice Baker, Chair of the CAO Performance Evaluation Committee provided the CAMA Board with an update on the activities of the Committee since the last meeting in November of 2014.  Included in her overview was the addition of Patrick Draper (City Manager for the City of St. Albert, AB) to the Committee to replace Donnie Hrynyk (City of Calgary) who will be retiring this year.  Other topics of discussion included the membership survey results, Elected Officials survey results (via FCM), the Committee’s Workplan and the associated budget.  Janice plans to update the membership with more details at the Annual Conference in Jasper.

CAMA’s Code of Conduct

The Board has struck a Committee to review the CAMA Code of Conduct with a specific Terms of Reference with their first meeting being held in April 2015.    This Committee will be chaired by Mr. Jack Benzaquen and consist of the following other CAMA members:

2015 CAMA Awards of Excellence Program

Chairman Jake Rudolph provided an update on this year’s Awards of Excellence Program.  We are once again pleased to have Ravenhill Group Inc. as our gold sponsor this year.  The Awards Selection Committee has been busy reviewing the many submissions that have been received and are impressed with the quality of the applications.  Notifications to those submitting applications should be out shortly.

Membership Update
The Board was updated on the current membership levels.  As of March 11th, 2015, the membership of the organization stood at 504 members.  The Board is excited about the potential for growth in the CAMA membership to make the organization a stronger voice for municipal administrators annually. 

Long Service Awards
CAMA will once again be presenting its Long Service Awards to members at this year’s Conference.  This year there will be 75 members that will be receiving their recognition pins.  Ten and fifteen year recipients will be receiving their pins in mid-April and those with more than twenty years of service will be presented their pins at the Long Services Awards Luncheon at the Jasper Conference.  We are very pleased to have Jostle as a partner for this year’s program.

The Long Service awards are a great way for our Association to acknowledge the commitment of our members to the profession.

 

ICMA
Mr. Marc Landry, CAMA External Relations Chair and Third International Vice-President of ICMA, provided an update on the activities of ICMA .  The 2015 Annual Conference of ICMA will be held in Seattle/King County, Washington State this Fall.  ICMA currently has 214 Canadian members and CAMA is always well represented at the ICMA Conference.  Mr. Landry gave a detailed overview of several ICMA meetings he attended on behalf of CAMA in recent months.

Treasurer’s Report

Ms. Janice Baker, CAMA Treasurer, updated the Board on the Association’s finances.  CAMA continues to be in a healthy financial position.  The Association has a member’s surplus of over $500,000 and indications are that we will once again be in a surplus position at year end.  CAMA continues to follow its recently adopted investment policy trying to make best use of the member’s surplus to raise additional revenues for the Association.  The Board takes pride in its prudent fiscal management of our member’s funds.  A detailed review of the Association’s finances will be presented at our Annual General Meeting in Jasper.

Other Topics
The Board discussed many other topics including:
• Affiliate Agreements with other Associations
• Relationships with FCM and IPAC
• Work with Infrastructure Canada
• Webinars and professional development opportunities

Next Board Meeting
The next CAMA Board meeting will be held in conjunction with the Annual Conference in Jasper.

I look forward to seeing you all in Jasper in a couple of months!
 

Committees draw on the skills and interests of a broad cross-section of the ICMA membership to study issues of interest and importance to the organization or to local government in general.  They also provide an opportunity for member connection and networking. 

We hope you'll consider lending your time and talent to one of the following groups:

Full descriptions of each group can be found at

http://icma.org/en/icma/members/committees_task_forces/current_committees
 

Please be sure to complete your request by Friday, April 24.  To submit your Committee request(s) follow these instructions:  Log-in at icma.org. Please note that if you have not recently updated your password, you will need to do so before proceeding.
 

Select “My Account” at the top right corner of the page.
Select “My Committee Nominations”Director, Ethics and Membership
Enter your top three choices
Click "SAVE" in order to submit your choices.
 

You will hear from us regarding your selections before July 1, 2015.

For more information on the volunteer and appointment process, visit the Committee/Task Force Frequently Asked Questions or contact Member & Customer Support at [email protected].

Thank you for volunteering!  ICMA greatly appreciates your time and expertise.
 
Martha Perego
Director, Ethics and Membership

 

 

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We’ll see you at the 2015 CAMA Conference!
We are excited to announce our return as social media sponsor for the mobile app at the 2015 CAMA Conference. The popular mobile app will be offered to CAMA members and Conference attendees as your “one-stop shop” for event information. Visit our booth, download the app, and follow us @strategycorpinc. 

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